London sells record 2.1 mln Paralympic tickets

LONDON - A record 2.1 million tickets have been sold for the London Paralympics, outstripping the previous record set four years ago in Beijing by 300,000, London organizers said on Wednesday.

The success of Britain's Olympic athletes, who have already notched up their best gold medal tally since 1908, has helped boost sales, with 600,000 Paralympic tickets sold in the past month.

About 400,000 tickets are still available, including for the opening and closing ceremonies.

A further batch of so-called contingency tickets, calculated after camera positions have been worked out, are also likely to be made available before the Paralympics start in three weeks.

"To have sold the most ever tickets for a Paralympic Games three weeks before the opening ceremony is absolutely fantastic and shows the insatiable appetite the public has for top class elite sport," Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee, said in a statement.

"Our aim now is to sell every single ticket. It would be a fitting that when the Paralympic Movement returns to its spiritual birthplace in three weeks time it does so in front of packed sold-out venues."

Britain, which has traditionally excelled at the Paralympics, will be hoping to replicate the success of their Olympic athletes.

Some sports fans, frustrated by the complicated ticketing system for the Olympics, have chosen to buy Paralympic tickets instead.

"The Olympic Games have shown us that the UK has taken the Games to their heart and with the tickets sold so far and more still to come I look forward to even more people getting the chance to join and to form memories that will last a lifetime," London organizing committee (LOCOG) Chairman Seb Coe said in a statement.

The inspiration for the modern Paralympics is the Stoke Mandeville Games, held in 1948 at a rehabilitation facility for World War Two veterans.